With the kind of form Harry Kane was in for the last one month, Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino is surely devastated with the ankle injury the England international incurred in their FA Cup win against Millwall. The 23-year-old has scored 19 goals so far, this season despite missing 10 games earlier at the start of the campaign.
His compatibility and coordination with Christian Eriksen and Dele Alli has been the most important factor for Tottenham’s brilliant run so far, which is bound to take a huge hit now. The Lilywhites are the closest to league leaders Chelsea, and although there is a 10-point gap between them, it is easy for Spurs now to lose their edge in the league matches that they were so easily winning.
Pochettino still has options like Son and Janssen to take Kane’s place up front. And although Son has shown moments of brilliance occasionally in the season, Janssen has been a failure. Now, with plan A failing, the manager will have to get things absolutely right to bring out the best from his available sources.
The last time Kane missed out for so long was back at the start of the season, where Pochettino’s men won six out of their opening 11 fixtures that included a crucial four-game winless streak drawing against West Bromwich Albion, Bournemouth and Leicester City. Spurs had managed to hit the net only thrice in the last four games. Spurs have to make sure they don’t experience a déjà vu.
According to reports, Kane has a chance of playing Spurs’ crunch FA Cup semi-final clash with Chelsea during April end; which means that Tottenham are sure to be without Kane’s services in the game against Southampton and following the international break, in the games against Burnley, Swansea City, Watford and Bournemouth. And these fixtures against midtable and lower teams is bound to have a huge impact on Tottenham’s qualification in Champions League qualification spot.
At a crucial time like this, Pochettino would expect his in-form players like Christian Eriksen, Dele Alli and Moussa Dembele to take up the mantle and make sure that the three points keep coming. Son showcased his prolific scoring abilities against Millwall last game as his hat-trick helped Tottenham steamroll the League One side 6-0. The 24-year-old South Korean is a different type of player altogether if compared to Kane’s offensive attributes, and it will be down to Pochettino to use his pace effectively.
